Looking at the four people in front of him, Yongqi felt that not only An'an's teeth hurt, but his own teeth also ached from the sweetness.
"Didn't you say you were going out for a trip? What are you doing? Aren't you leaving the palace?" Yongqi's mournful voice came from behind.
"Leaving the palace, huh?" An Ke didn't notice the Fifth Prince's tone at all, thinking he was just asking a normal question.
Fu'ertai, however, understood the implied meaning in the Fifth Prince's words and teased, "Didn't the Fifth Prince just return from handling some business outside the palace? Why are you in such a hurry to leave the palace again?"
Yongqi glared fiercely at Ertai, as if to say, "Don't you understand why I'm in such a hurry to leave the palace?"
Voltaire shrugged: I don't know~
Yongqi's expression changed. If Anke, listening to their conversation, still didn't understand, then something was truly amiss. She instantly realized that Yongqi thought he was a third wheel.
Anke pinched Ertai's waist, signaling him to tone it down. Didn't he see that Fifth Brother's eyes looked like they were about to spit fire?
Ertai almost cried out when Anke pinched him, but he quickly held back and reached out to pull Anke's hand away. Ertai also stopped teasing Yongqi.
Qing'er watched the interaction between Anke and Ertai, only managing a doting smile behind their backs. Ji Chu, on the other hand, smiled at Qing'er.
"Let's set off now!" Anke looked at Yongqi and couldn't bear to see him continue watching their show. She should really pay more attention to her fifth brother, who was still single!
Yongqi: Thank you.
"Xinrong, come along too," Anke said, looking at Xinrong who was standing quietly to the side, like a background figure. She felt a little reluctant to leave her behind.
"Is this... convenient? Is it suitable?" Xinrong asked, but her bright eyes revealed her true thoughts.
The inquiry stemmed from Xinrong's good manners, but her true desire was to go.
“If there’s anything inconvenient, we’ll go together,” Anke decided immediately.
Ji Chu said he didn't care, as long as he could get along with Qing Gege, he didn't care who he was with.
Yongqi: Well, anyway, I'm not the only one being shown up by them like this.
Ertai didn't care at all. He had already brought Ji Chu and Yong Qi along, so adding one more wouldn't make a difference. Besides, it was the princess who said so herself, so he might as well bring them along.
No one objected, and Anke immediately instructed the palace maids to take her drawing board and charcoal pencils to the Cining Palace. The girls changed into civilian clothes and happily rode in a carriage towards the palace gates.
Normally, Ertai would have shamelessly sat in the carriage with the princess, but today there was a girl in the carriage and two men in his carriage, so he could only accompany the two of them on horseback outside.
The carriage soon came to a stop, and Anke smiled knowingly as she looked at the sign in front of her.
This was a shop she had wanted to visit for a long time. She hadn't expected that just mentioning it to Ertai would make him remember it.
"Isn't this the Qiongzhen Pavilion you've always wanted to visit?" Qing'er saw the name of the shop as soon as she got off the carriage. She walked slowly to An Ke's side and said in a low voice.
“Yes, I heard that the jewelry they make here is especially beautiful.” An Ke said to Qing’er with great enthusiasm, a smile playing on her lips.
After all, what woman doesn't love jewelry and cosmetics? Anke was no exception. In modern times, she was an orphan who later opened a martial arts gym, so she didn't need to wear makeup or gold and silver.
But after transmigrating here, she was born the pampered daughter of Prince Rui, and later even bestowed the title of Princess. Naturally, she was always dressed in the finest clothes, which led An Ke to develop a fondness for gold and silver, jewelry, and watercolors.
Sometimes, when she saw the emperor acquire one or two rare items, she would always try to find a way to get them back from him.
As soon as Fu'ertai dismounted, he was dazzled by the smile on the princess's lips. Yes, he had deliberately brought them here. After all, the princess had mentioned wanting to visit this place long ago, and now that he was taking a nap, wasn't this a golden opportunity?
Although there were other people around, they had insisted on coming along, so naturally they could go wherever they wanted. Seeing the smile on the princess's lips, Ertai felt that he had made the right move.
Looking at the name of the shop and seeing her cousin's delighted expression, Yongqi naturally guessed that this was the place An'an wanted to come to, and Ertai took this opportunity to bring his cousin here.
"That's good, you've really put your heart into it." Yongqi stepped forward and patted Ertai on the shoulder.
“The princess likes to come, and since I was on vacation, I brought her along.” Ertai crossed his arms and smiled as he looked at Anke, who was beaming in front of him.
Yongqi felt like he'd been shown up by them again, and frowned, "Do you know what you look like right now?"
Ertai naturally understood Yongqi's implied meaning, but he didn't intend to pay attention to Yongqi and said irrelevantly, "No matter what I look like, I'm the kind of person the princess likes."
For the first time, Yongqi felt utterly helpless, and silently moved away. Just as he was about to speak to the person next to him, he saw Ji Chu staring infatuatedly at Qing'er in front of him.
Yongqi: Oh, I almost forgot, there's another one I like.
Xinrong got off the carriage and looked at the name of the shop, but she didn't know that the shop had any connection with Anke. She just smiled and said, "When I first came to the capital, my mother mentioned this shop, saying that the jewelry made here was very good. I was thinking that I would definitely come to see it when I started working. I never thought I would come here today."
Xinrong's tone was filled with surprise, her eyes sparkling as she looked at the Qiongzhen Pavilion before her. Even the entrance to the Qiongzhen Pavilion was incredibly luxurious. The plaque was made of golden nanmu wood, and the pillars beside it were inscribed with characters carved in gold, with several gold threads cascading down around the pillars.
“That’s perfect, let’s go in and take a look today.” An Ke held Qing’er’s hand with her left hand and Xin Rong’s hand with her right hand, and walked straight into the store.
Seeing the scene before her, Anke felt that her impression from the entrance was somewhat inaccurate; she hadn't expected such a hidden world inside. The jewelry inside was so dazzling that Anke wanted to buy it all.
The servants who were attending to the guests saw the newcomers and, after observing their attire, noticed that the handsome men and beautiful women who had arrived were dressed very elegantly. They then approached the guests with great enthusiasm.
"What would you ladies like to see?" the servant asked eagerly, a polite smile on his face.
"I'd like to see some earrings," Xinrong whispered from the side, because Guanbao's wife had a particular fondness for earrings, especially those made of pearls.
"I'd like to see the jade bracelet." Qing'er noticed that many of the jewelry pieces here were new and unique designs that weren't available in the palace, and thought it would be a good idea to give them to the Empress Dowager.
"I want to see some hairpins." Anke felt that she hadn't properly given her mother a gift since she returned to the capital. She thought she should choose some carefully!
Besides, it would be nice to give the hairpin to the Empress Dowager, but one shouldn't be too stingy when giving it to her. "Do you have any hairpins made of pearls here?" Anke asked after a moment's thought.
There were rules in the palace: only the Empress could wear pearls. Therefore, hairpins made of pearls could naturally be worn by the Empress.
The waiter felt as if a lot of gleaming silver was beckoning to him, and his face almost blossomed into a smile. He hurriedly said, "Several ladies mentioned it, and we have it all. Dongzi, Nanzi, a guest has arrived! Quickly take the guest to the jade bracelets and earrings section." He felt that An Ke was a big customer, so he had to come personally.
The two responded cheerfully, "Coming!"
Ertai naturally accompanied Anke to look at hairpins, while Jichu accompanied Qing'er to look at jade bracelets. The Fifth Prince, however, seemed somewhat at a loss.
He was a little at a loss, not knowing what he should do. Maybe he could pick out some jewelry for his mother?
Seeing Yongqi's helplessness, Anke kindly suggested, "Fifth Brother, why don't you go with Xinrong to look at earrings? That way, if anything happens, everyone can help out. Besides, Consort Yu has been saying for a long time that she wants a pair of gold-inlaid jade earrings."
The opportunity has been created for Fifth Brother; now it's up to him to seize it.
Yes, Anke had noticed long ago that Xinrong's eyes were always reflecting Fifth Brother's image. Since Fifth Brother wasn't involved with Xiaoyanzi, why not see if there would be another chance for them to meet?
Yongqi felt his ears burning slightly. He wanted to ask Xinrong Gege's opinion, but couldn't bring himself to do so. Looking into Xinrong's big, watery eyes, Yongqi couldn't bring himself to ask, let alone refuse.
"Then I'll have to trouble you, Fifth Prince," Xinrong said softly, her head bowed, a blush quickly spreading across her face, making her look like a young girl.
"N-nothing... let's go." Yongqi felt something was off. Why was he being so cowardly? He forced himself to remain calm and coughed lightly.
Xinrong lowered her head and responded, a sweet smile appearing on her lips. She followed Yongqi to the earring shop.
The other four had known each other for a long time, so they didn't have many reservations. Although Qing'er felt a little uncomfortable, she had already met them and wasn't so awkward anymore.
Looking at the dazzling array of hairpins, An Ke felt overwhelmed. She liked this one, liked that one, and liked another one. For the first time, An Ke realized that she was a fickle person. She used to like hairpins made of pearls, but now she liked them all.
Seeing the princess's hesitant expression, Ertai silently walked to her side, pursed his lips, and said, "If the princess likes them, she may take them all." Ertai quietly weighed his purse and felt that getting the princess these hairpins was not a problem.
An Ke understood the implication in Ertai's words and chuckled inwardly. Did this silly goose really think she was broke? She said half-jokingly, "But I didn't bring much money with me today, so I can only choose one item."
Ertai immediately said, "It's alright, Princess. I have silver here. Let's take it all." After saying that, he gave Anke a big smile.
Anke chuckled. This silly goose! When would she realize she actually carried a lot of silver? Besides, how could a princess like her not have any?
"Alright, I brought enough silver to cover all of these. I was just debating which one looked the best." An Ke smiled and waved her hand, nudging Ertai's hand that was holding the money pouch. After all, Ertai's silver was earned through fierce battles on the battlefield.
How could I possibly take someone else's money and use it for nothing?
Ertai knew he had been amused by the princess, but his ears turned slightly red. He gripped the money pouch tightly and muttered softly, "It's alright, Princess. Even if you spend all this money, it's fine. Mine all belong to you."
Upon hearing this, An Ke's hand holding the hairpin trembled slightly. She glanced unconsciously at the boy beside her, whose ears were flushed red, and coughed softly, "Put it away for now. If you need more later, you can use yours."
"Great!" The boy's words immediately became excited, as if being able to get money from An Ke was such a happy thing.
In the end, Anke didn't use it, because the seven hairpins she chose were exactly the same as the silver Anke had brought with her that day.
Ertai, looking somewhat dejected and defiant, hung the silver coins tightly around his waist. Anke smiled at the young man before her and raised her hand to pat Ertai's head.
Because Ertai was a bit tall, Anke had to stand on tiptoe, which was quite strenuous. Seeing Anke's action, Ertai immediately lowered his head in agreement. Anke then took the opportunity to touch Ertai's hair.
Anke said reassuringly, "Alright, aren't we still going out to play later? I've spent all my money, so I'll have to use yours after we go out."
The sad dog was instantly cheered up, happily responded, then took the head from Anke's hand, opened the box, and walked outside excitedly.
Qing'er's progress was very smooth. As soon as she arrived at the jade bracelet area, she saw a jade bracelet with excellent color and texture.
Looking at the carved patterns on it, Qing'er felt that the Empress Dowager would like this jade bracelet. She then looked at the jade bracelet under the sunlight. It was crystal clear and had no impurities. It could be described as a superior jade bracelet.
After instructing the servant to wrap this up, Qing'er prepared to look at other jade bracelets, since An'an's birthday was coming up soon and she wanted to prepare a birthday gift for An'an.
Looking left and right, she felt that none of the jade bracelets here were quite right for An'an. She was frowning and pondering whether she should go look elsewhere later.
Just then, Ji Chu came over with two jade bracelets in her hand and asked Qing'er in a low voice, "What does Princess think of these two jade bracelets?"
Qing'er took the jade bracelet from Ji Chu's hand and examined it carefully. She saw that one of them was the green Hetian jade that An'an liked. The jade bracelet had a gentle texture and a soft color. It was really a top-quality jade. Moreover, green was also An'an's favorite color.
The cyan jade bracelet on An'an's fair and translucent hand made her hands look even more fair and slender.
Qing'er laughed happily, feeling that An'an's birthday gift was settled.
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